Reviews :
Burgie : Aww thank you so much! :)
Snake557 : Aw! I'll be uploading a journal to my deviantART soon here, with pictures of Chester. I have two pictures of him on my Art Station already though! My username there is LuckyBat :)
Song Listened To :
Daylight by Maroon 5
*Chapter 23*
Standing in the midst of Dead Zed's humid, lovely springtime air, the handful of individuals gathered for this important, mini ceremony Libby was adamant about. In a rush of hoping not to miss the event, Ralph, Vanellope and Zed's brothers quickly rushed to where Libby, Ace and everyone else resided inside Dead Zed's jungles, after game day, so to not miss out on this important event. Stood in a sunny clearing of Dead Zed's jungles, near the old grounds of the previous Kalivar castle, Ace and Libby stood in cued anticipation, they knew to wait until everyone had settled to step out into the clearing and begin this simple, yet fragile, process. Although Zed had successfully coded Beaux and Mara to Dead Zed's core, Ace still hung onto Beaux like his little life depended on it.
"Bud, you can relax now," Zed softly eased to Ace's stiff demeanor, and with such, Ace exhaled a shaky breath and gave his dad a weary smile. Zed chuckled, pat Ace's shoulder and shook his head, "I understand you want to protect your new babies, at all cost, but you HAVE to relax... They're both safely coded to Dead Zed, and they are so far from harms way, right here and now. Just ease up, even a little."
"You're right, I'm sorry," Ace sighed, he sagged Beaux's little body and peered down to him with an adoring smile. Beaux just barely opened his little eyes, squinted and peered to Ace's chest in a discombobulated, aimless gaze of entirely getting his bearings. Ace chuckled, softly rubbed his much larger finger against Beaux's soft cheek and shook his head in disbelief, "This is so incredibly bizarre..."
"It doesn't stop being bizarre," Zed assured as he placed his hands on his hips and breathed a chuckle, though Libby softly approached both men and began to tenderly wiggle Mara out of the cloth, tribal designed chest sling she was currently snuggled in, "Do you guys need any of our help?"
"I-I don't think so," Ace staggered through a trembling, excited breath; he knew this little event was small and rather anticlimactic, though he was unaware just what Libby had planned for him after giving their son and daughter their first Teltokuan marks.
Just as Ace gave his father a kind thank you, smiled and turned his back to head into the clearing, Libby cocked an eyebrow in Zed's direction, bobbed a nod and secretly insinuated that she'd need Zed's help after this small event, so she could surprise Ace by properly giving him his very own Teltokuan markings, due to now having two children. Zed raised his eyebrows in knowing, bobbed a nod, smiled and sagged his hands into his black jean's pockets. In the gentle separation from the group, Ace and Libby tenderly parted and eased about a dozen feet away, with nothing but their two babies, unsheathed from their slings. Once the two came upon the special, henna-like mud that was traditionally used for Teltokuan staining and tattooing, Libby kindly turned and peered to Ace.
Wearing a cream, tribal crop top and cream colored harem pants to match, Libby looked like a vision, and coming hot off the heels of downloading two babies to Arcade, Ace was absolutely certain the woman he was forever tied to was superwoman. Her short, gorgeous choppy hair fluttered in the warm wind, she held their tiny daughter close to her chest, upright and supported, and once Ace stepped closer to her, he narrowed his gaze and peered into her beautiful blue eyes. He shook his head in disbelief, he could hardly even begin to understand just how he had gotten so lucky, just how this all could've properly unfolded. Such a tender, beautiful childhood friendship that blossomed into something so healing and so magical, Ace was absolutely certain this was a feeling on par with winning the lottery; and now the fact that he had two gorgeous children with said incredible woman, he finally closed his eyes and allowed the reality to continue to plow into him, with open arms.
"Y'okay, puba? Y'ready?" Libby's cute, girly voice whispered as she peered up at his masculine face; he pried his eyes open from the back of his skull.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Ace nodded, and with such, Libby held Mara tight in an upright position against her right shoulder, knelt down, and firmly sagged her thumb pad into the special mud near their bare feet.
Upon standing, she gently tilted her head down to said mud, cued Ace to also do the same and blurt a small giggle the second he huffed a flustered, knowing noise, bent down and did the same, all whilst holding Beaux safely to his chest. Both babies quietly babbled and cooed, having just been fed and cared for, they rested in pure contentment. Although the group about Ace and Libby couldn't understand Teltokuan, Libby spoke her native tongue aloud, making clear just what her intentions were for these two Teltokuan children. Ace, having being able to understand her, honed his eyes tight to her figure and soaked in the further knowledge she gave him of her incredible culture, and once she was finished pronouncing Mara one with the tribe, Libby softly lifted Mara's right heel, sagged her mud-coated thumb into the bottom of Mara's right heel and pulled away, showing a cute, perfect thumbprint of Libby's hand. With an expectant smile, Libby peered to Ace, gestured to Mara's bare left heel, and insinuated for Ace to place his mark on her, as well. In cute fashion, Ace's thumbprint nearly encompassed the whole of Mara's little left heel, something both parents quietly laughed and joked about for a moment.
With Libby's word, she beamed the group an expectant, excited smile and gently waved Mara's little arm about. Although the group about them couldn't understand a single word Libby was saying, they still quietly cheered and clapped in congratulations for little Mara. Once the excitement settled, Libby inhaled a deep breath and squat back down to the mud, so to complete said journey with Beaux. Ace joined her this time, and upon returning to standing, Libby quietly continued on, in her Teltokuan tongue, instructing that Beaux was to now be included in on his new heritage, a bond he had with his Teltokuan roots as well. In perfect order, Libby diligently pressed her thumb print into the bottom of Beaux's right foot, and Ace's for Beaux's left. Once that was finished, the group excitedly clapped and cheered for Beaux, a congratulations that both babies deserved, something that they knew meant a whole lot for Libby and her people. With ease, both parents flood each baby with their own, comforting golden honeycomb coding, and just like that, their little tattoos flaked and showed permanence on their new skin.
Ace smiled down at his two babies, now properly indoctrinated into Libby's, and now Ace's, coded roots. Libby gently reached out and squeezed Ace's arm in a show of gratitude, she bobbed a nod at him, as if to kindly suggest that he was doing great, though before Ace could open his mouth and inquire if there was anything else him and Libby needed to do, for Beaux and Mara, in this important moment, he flinched and noticed his mother and father quickly making their way over to Ace, Libby and the babies. Ace furrowed his eyebrows in gentle confusion as he watched Libby tenderly hand Mara over to Zed, and as Tessa gently approached Ace, all smiles, a soft gesture to reach out and hopefully acquire Beaux from Ace's grip, Ace furrowed his brow harder and smiled a smile of whole entire confusion. Although he trusted his own mother and father with babies, of anyone's, he still hesitantly and slowly handed Beaux to his mother and peered his confused gaze tight to Libby's, which looked girly, scheming and delighted, all in one.
"What's going on?" Ace pressed in a lilt of tender concern, though Libby gestured down to the staining mud, below their shadows, and gave Ace a knowing look.
"You know you didn't come all this way to just not receive your OWN tattoos, right?" Libby titled her head, side-eyed her love and gave a girly shrug, and with the wash of realization, Ace raised his eyebrows in a pang of excited surprise.
"Me!" Ace choked with a chuckle, to which Libby gestured to him.
"YOU!" Libby blurt a giggle, the group about them eagerly laughed at Ace's doughy, cute demeanor, "Can you please kneel for me?"
Ace huffed a soft breath of tender, delighted surprise, and with one gentle swoop, he ever so slowly got to one knee. Amidst the posture, his bare knee sagged into the soft earth underneath, and upon understanding just what detrimental position he was in, he bugged his eyes a little and froze. He exhaled a trembled breath and allowed his sight to sag to Libby as she knelt down to gather some mud in her hand. He felt his pupils tighten, his heart began to race with knowing, and just as the idea of proposing right here, right now, hit his brain like a brick wall, he felt mild disappointment at the fact that he had unfortunately left the box, alongside the cross-striped ring, from Ralph's and Vanellope's gorgeous tree, in a different pair of shorts. Upon wondering if he could potentially be wrong, he gingerly sagged his larger hand to his right pocket, and as if he had simply struck gold, his heart leapt clear out of his chest at the realization that hit him; said pair of pants, that harbored such an important ring, just so happened to be the pair he had on.
With raised eyebrows, he was glad Libby was still busy gathering a proper amount of mud onto her hand. He huffed a silent chuckle, turned to his left and peered to his curious, expectant family members a dozen or so feet away from the two. He caught eyes with his father, obviously a sharp-witted man, the look of expectant, dumbfounded surprise and curiosity hung tight to Zed's demeanor, as if everyone could see that Ace was in a proper proposal stance, though they all wondered if it were simply a one in a million chance that Ace actually had Libby's engagement ring on him. Ace cocked an eyebrow, eyed his father in a knowing, bug-eyed way, and as subtly as he could, he gingerly nodded in Zed's direction, without Libby seeing, and with such, Zed could visibly be seen stiffening his shoulders with excitement and preparation; he tenderly leaned in to Tessa's vicinity and began to silently whisper, something Ace cued to and immediately brought his brimming, giddy attention back to his now future bride, an incredible, able woman of many talents, one that remained gently knelt with Ace.
"In Teltokuan tradition, tattoos are clearly ritual, in all parts of life. Children receive a hell tattoo, from both their parents, upon birth, women receive a left arm tattoo, annnnd," Libby chimed, she spoke loudly so the group about Ace and Libby could understand just what this Ace-specific tattoo entailed, and just what it meant for him, "Men receive one tattoo per child they have... So, lucky you, you get two."
"I want you to decide what I get," Ace stated bravely, he knew Libby had an eye for design, strictly due to the fact that her own tattoo was a gorgeous representation of herself, and with such, Ace was confident she'd deliver.
"... You sure?" Libby cooed in a voice of unadulterated gratefulness, she sagged the mud in her palm and gave Ace a look, as if to wonder if he was absolutely certain; he nodded, knowing full well she was the one to be surprised anyhow, at the end of all of this.
"I'm positive... Whatever you give me, I will proudly boast," Ace bobbed a nod, and with such, Libby's eyes now trailed Ace's broad chest and shoulders, as if to contemplate.
"Well, then..." Libby fingered her lip in tender inquisition, she narrowed her gaze and kept her eyes tight to the road of Ace's shoulders, and with such, she came to a decision and bobbed a nod, "If you will, then, please take off your shirt."
"Yes ma'am," Ace concluded, and as politely as he could, he took off his black tank top, tossed it aside, and awaited Libby's masterpiece.
With able hands, Libby gingerly began to go to work. The whole group about them eagerly watched just what kind of tattoo she was going to adorn Ace's body with, and although Ace felt the urge to grimace at the cold paste Libby was now coating his shoulders and the broad of his chest with, he relaxed and allowed her to do what she will, to paint whatever she wanted on the canvas she was given. In due time, Libby huffed a small giggle and began to ease about Ace's back, and as the cold paste began to hit near the back of Ace's neck, he chuckled and felt a massive urge to scrunch his shoulders, to beam in teasing dismay. Upon everyone's initial view of Libby's masterpiece, it was clear she was making his tattoos to mock hers; rings that trailed down her left arm now stood out proudly on Ace's chest. A thin, inner ring, much smaller and one that hugged about the tops of Ace's collar bones, and around the tops of his shoulder blades, formed a perfect circle; underneath said thinner ring was a much thicker ring, one that went across the top half of the broad of Ace's chest, and came full circle about the backs of his shoulder blades. A thin, dainty circle for Mara, and a thicker, bolder one for Beaux, something that was entirely obvious without Libby even having to explain.
"Look'it you," Libby teased quietly as she finally came full circle with the staining paste, and upon gently soaking the last of Beaux's circle together, and completing the piece, Libby eased off of Ace's presence and gently gestured down to him with a loving smile, "A proud dad, indeed."
"Without a doubt," Ace encouraged quietly, a handsome smile and a twinkling set of hazel eyes, only for her.
"Y'ready for it to be permanent?" Libby wondered kindly, she gestured down to his tattoo and quietly inquired that he take a good look, and once Ace peered down to her handiwork, looked all about his shoulders and was all smiles, he finally sagged and gave her a confident nod.
"It's perfect," Ace lovingly whispered, he nodded once more and lulled his eyes closed, as if to express that he was content with her masterpiece, "I'm ready."
Libby bobbed an elated nod, gently rid her hand of the staining paste, and as easily as she could she laid her clean hand to Ace's upper arm. In a tender flare of a reveal, their incredible, rare coding gently shone in a swarm of cooperation, a lovely glow of gold honeycombs that everyone knew well. Amidst redirection, Libby inhaled a gentle breath and closed her eyes, something Ace cocked an eyebrow and cued to. Upon Libby diligently training their coding to melt into the staining mud, and preparedly ink Ace's skin in permanence, Ace took this shining opportunity to gently ease the little, special boxed ring out of his pocket. The second Ace could feel the mud immediately dry undernetah the heat of their going, and flake off in the reveal of his brand new permanent tattoo, Ace's trembling hands clumsily, and slowly, opened the little black box, one of which housed Libby's new, gorgeous, cross-striped engagement ring, and upon Libby's eyes reopening, her eyes glossed down his chest in endearing, girly delight and landed straight for the glowing prize in Ace's hand, presented just for her.
Libby furrowed her eyebrows in a lilt of tender confusion, though as the information immediately hit her brain in a roll of thunderous surprise, Libby gasped in a sharp inhale, tucked her hands to her now gaping mouth and took a clumsy, confused step backwards. In a choke of gentle, excited laughter emit from both Ace's and Libby's figures, the entire group about them was now alive with prickled, stunned surprise, notions of soft elatedness, darted glances of beaming disbelief, and in this roll of continued surprise, left and right, Ace felt his eyes well with tears the second Libby's face grimaced to a tight show of overflowing emotion. Libby coughed a small cry of happiness, covered her face and hunched into herself in raw disbelief as Ace held out their incredibly special ring, a proper Sugar Rush proposal, all plastered brand new with his fresh Teltokuan tattoos to represent his brand new babies. Ace knew there was no other moment this would feel real and correct, and the fact that he caught Libby entirely off guard had his heart absolutely soaring.
"I-I know I'm permanently yours, and vice versa, due to the TWO babies you downloaded TODAY, mind you," Ace choked a laugh as the tears billowed in his eyes, the whole group was alive with laughter and notions of proud surprise, in Libby's direction, "We may share the same code, and now share two children together, but... I want to continue on this path of permanence."
Libby finally peered out from her hands, her whole face was wet and red with an overflow of tender, blushing and floored surprise. She inhaled a sniffle as her nose ran, from crying, and with wet, sweet eyes that peered hard into Ace's blooming soul, she shook her head and beamed him the widest smile of stunned disbelief.
"Kajiksana," Ace started tenderly, his masculine left hand tenderly roped her own left hand into his, he squeezed with all the passion in the world as he asked her the perfect, finalizing question to their journey, "Will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes!" Libby squealed with a small, tender pep of a jump on the balls of her feet, and with such infectious joy, the excited group about them eagerly clapped and cheered for the two as Ace confidently sunk the gorgeous, cross-striped ring onto Libby's little left ring finger. In a sudden swing of excitement, Ace gently got to his feet and held his larger hands to the dip of her waist as her wet eyes humbly peered up to him, a rush of overflowing excitement she couldn't contain, "I-I can't believe it, I can't believe it! That was such a surprise!"
"The second you closed your eyes, I knew I had that in the bag," Ace blurt a hard laugh as he quickly scooped Libby into his arms, twirled her once, set her back to the ground and hovered tight over her fragile, cute, lithe figure, "I love you... My white fire flower."
"I love you too, my big, bumbling worry wart," Libby teased as Ace leaned in and hardly let her finish, he eased a few gentle smooches to her smiling lips, a tender and intimate moment Ace didn't want to entirely indulge in, due to all the eyes on him, though he allowed at least a little bit of it, due to the special occasion.
"Cross-striped ring," Ralph grumbled with a proud smile as he eyed Vanellope, he cocked an eyebrow and bobbed a knowing nod, "Works every single time."
"Ralph, me, Orph, and now Ace," Zed trailed as he snuggled Mara closer to his chest, though he dragged his knowing gaze straight for Nox's excited, though now suddenly shriveling demeanor, "We, uh... We gunna maybe add Nox to that line-up?"
"...HUH?" Nox staggered in bashful embarrassment as Ace and Libby finally rejoined the group about them; Ace firmly pat Nox's shoulder and gestured to his ow mother.
"You're in cahoots with Sugar Rush's third heir, my dude," Ace reminded, though Nox cocked an eyebrow and nudged Ace's chest.
"Y'think I don't know that," Nox argued with a small laugh, to which Ralph kindly bobbed Nox a nod.
"Y'ever need a branch of that tree, you just let me know," Ralph assured, and although Nox was finally accepted into the clan, via Ralph and Vanellope, it still seemed like brand new information, every time it was apparent.
"What I love about this tradition is... Each ring is juuuust a little different from the other," Tessa cued as she held out her left hand, which encouraged Vanellope and now Libby to proudly present theirs, "So while each ring is technically from the same tree, each husband has crafted the ring out of different sections of the stripes, which gives each ring it's own unique flare."
"No one branch of that sprawling tree is the same," Ralph encouraged with a gentle smile as his family kindly peered up to him in expectant adoration, "Fitting for a rowdy, romantic group of misfits."
A/N: This chapter marks my word-count over the 100k mark! INSANE!
...Mostly because I haven't even made a DENT in the plot yet. Whoops.
For those of you that are interested in what is to come up next, read on to see the spoilers!
The next few lines underneath this bold print is spoilers! I have warned you!
I've warned you twice!
I've warned you THRICE!
vvvvvvvvvvv*SPOILERS*vvvvvvvvvvv
A time hop happens certain trio of kiddos start themselves a garage band, in which the whole palace is entirely annoyed of
There is a TINY bit of Minty/Swizzle romance, nothing huge, I apologize, but it's something.
Berri finds a temporary way for Chester to see, thus creating their special bond
Another time hop happens and Berri runs into Turbo... quite literally and physically lol.
